Shaving fender seams on the 55

You mentioning it got me started looking for the -7 wire, and I can only finding it in 44 lb 12" spools, but my welder maxes out at an 8" spool. Any chance you've got a source for smaller spools of the wire?

 

I was looking for something here at my local store, and I got the only roll of -7 he had....it came with a new welder so he said he would put a -6 in there and sold the -7 to me. I don't know of any souces but an online search should turn up something.

 

Another great job as always!

Will have to check out the new wire you have there.

 

Thanks, I was referred to an ESAB spec sheet and they list down to a 12 lb roll in .023 and .030 but it also shows EZ Grind and I've seen posts somewhere saying that isn't made anymore. Either way I found no prices on line so a phone call tomorrow is in order.

 

Continuing on the driver's fender, the top of the seam was trimmed....







When trimming along through the center, I noticed a weak spot....





This is where some dirt had been trapped behind the bolting plate on top of the flange, and looks like it wouldn't have been long in coming through paint. To be able to trim the pitted area out, the lower section was trimmed with about 3/16 extra... see the scribe mark...

Planished flat..



Clamped over fender and scribed....



Trimmed for tight fit. Note that butt weld clamps are used to hold for fitment only, joint will be butted tight when welding...


until next time....

 

i was under the impression that you wanted a little gap when mig welding sheet metal? should there be no gap at all, are my panel clamps useless for welding?

great job by the way and im grateful for the tip on the more ductile wire, my cohorts and i have always just used whatever wire was available. can the wire be used for non sheet metal products as well, tubing chassis stuff etc? assuming it was the correct diameter of course, or is it some how structurally weaker?

thanks again for posting this for the TIG challenged among us, big help!!

matt

 

Great thread.

I like the look of what you did, and I learned something along the way.

Going to stop @ Airgas on Monday and inquire about the -7 wire.

 

Did the same mod to my 55 back in the late 90's.
I did mine similar to yours (the 2nd time)- except I didn't take many progress pics. If you just bolt them together & weld, there's a buldge there that doesn't lay flat. I did that the 1st time & used brazing rod to fill the seam. Itr came back to haunt me a year later.
I also closed up that line that runs diagonally down from headlight opening.








Also welded up the dash seams.




Nice work & progress pics!!!!!

 

Very interesting the way you un-folded that lip to give you the clean metal you need to replace that crud, demonstrating a craftsman needs smarts *and* skills! Thanks for the how-to, great stuff to learn from.

 

Thanks for the comments guys!

Matt, gaps or no gaps will be debated as much as filler over or under primer. I will just say that I prefer no gaps because once the panel is fit up with no gaps, I don't need to worry about panel movement. If you have ever welded on either side of one of those butt weld clamps, you have seen how much the panels draw together as sometimes you'll need pliers to pull the clamps out. The next few tacks it will pull together more, so in the end, your gaps will end up inconsistent, as will the amount of wire to fill them, as will the heat and resulting shrinking. Where a no-fill fusion weld using Tig or O/A Gas is by far superior, especially in finishing, Mig can provide adequate results for those of us still Tig/Gas challenged. But consistent methods yield more consistent results. IMO that starts with the gaps. If the panel is butted tightly, the gaps never change.

For the technical stuff on the wire, that's over my head. But there should be info online for it....

Now Steve, you're just trying to make more work for me!

 

Well after the 390 valve cover diversion, time to get back to work on the 55's driver fender. The two pieces have been trimmed for a tight butt joint, shown here clamped together...



It was then I noticed the crease just above the seam..



Ahhh, the dreaded fender bump. I believe this is caused by someone bumping into something with the corner of the bumper, which in turn forces the lower portion of the fender backward, thus forming the inward crease (red line) and outward crease (yellow line). Always better to fix the body damage before attempting to weld panels together.



Another view of the outward crease....



A 3" roloc disc scuffed across the lower crease on the inside of the panel quickly shows the area that needs to be bumped outward...



The tools used will be the donut dolly, a small shot bag, and body hammer.



The area was worked using the hammer and dolly, with progress checked by scuffing with the roloc disc.



Needs just a bit more cleanup, but shows a much more repectable crown, as shown by the #32 sweep

 

Very impressive skills.
"Number 32 sweep"..talk a bit about those if you would.
Thanks for the posts

 

Glad to see that there are still craftsmen left that don't have to use body filler. Very nice work.

 

Thanks for the comments..

TX57, they are basically a radius gauge. The set I have is #1-60, 30" long. Each numerical value is +1/16 at the center of the arc, or this #10 for example, is up 5/8 in the center...

 

Back to welding... All clamped up, again...tightly



First set of tacks...





Weld penetration, the back side....





I had someone asking about the process I used with the mig, so I took the close ups to show it a little better... Weld, planish, grind, overlap, repeat...





Planishing as you go helps to keep the panel's shape in check...



Still needs a bit of bumping but not too bad overall..




​

 

As with all your work on the tailgate, this fender work is over the top, nice job...Jim

 

Thanks Jim. Tonight's accomplishment, back to the driver fender. I still had the inner seam to finish up...





Bridging the gap where the flanges were cut out...











Installed....





A look from the front...

 

looks great!!

 

out of curiousity how many hours do you have in each fender to this point?

you need to do more of these types threads to help idiots like me

 

For shaving the seams I would guess about 4 hours each fender..

 

Is the backside of the weld above finished? Is that where most of you guys leave the backside of buttweld joints at?

Just smoothed up with the grinder and primed??? Does it depend on the area? For instance a butt weld under the hood that would be seen gets metal finished and skimmed with filler?

 

Yes, the back side of the weld is finished as well.

Not sure I understand this question. If you are asking if the weld beads are left on the backside, given access to dress the welds, no. I shaved the hood bird on this same car, and although the only welding was to fill the four mounting holes, the underside of the hood will be addressed with a couple coats of H/K epoxy primer, block sanded, and should be done. Here is the thread on the hood detail...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=505861